Of Blood and Monsters

by D. G. Swank

  Withdrawing the sword, I plunged it into the last leonal, striking true this time. Hundreds of souls floated up as the demon turned to ash.

  “Impressive,” the remaining demon said with a slow clap.

  “Are you going to tell me your name?” I asked. “Or am I going to have to give you one?”

  He laughed. “And give you power over me, slayer? I’m not stupid either.”

  “Have it your way, Boy Band,” I sneered as I shifted to face him.

  “Boy Band?” Another laugh escaped from him.

  I shrugged. “If the hair fits…”

  He moved toward me and I remained still, holding both weapons to my sides.

  “Why aren’t you afraid of me?” I asked, holding his gaze.

  He didn’t drop eye contact as he closed the last few feet between us. He stood in front of me, big and bold, and I could see by the triumph in his eyes he thought he had me under some kind of spell.

  “You will come with me now, Piper,” he said in a low tone, reaching for my sword hand.

  “Where will we go?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even and maintain the illusion that I was in his thrall.

  My grip tightened on St. Michael. I knew this demon likely had supernatural speed, which meant I had to move quickly, no hesitation.

  But then his gaze lifted over my shoulder, and I heard Abel behind me.

  “Kewasa. I see you’ve met Adonis.”

  Adonis? As in the Greek god? How did Abel know? My brows lifted as Adonis took several steps backward.

  “Son of Okeus, it’s an honor,” he said, only the sneer on his face suggested otherwise.

  Several growls sounded behind us, and Abel cursed under his breath. “Piper, run out the back and let me deal with this.”

  Was he joking? I wasn’t running from anything. Even if I’d wanted to go, my new hunger for the demons’ souls wouldn’t have allowed it.

  But I didn’t have time to argue as the two demons he’d left behind advanced toward him, one of them the minotaur with the axe. I hopped down to the loading dock driveway and Adonis followed, looking pleased with himself.

  “Piper!” Abel shouted, clearly irritated with me.

  I held up my sword as I took several steps backward. “I’m not going anywhere with you, so you’re wasting your time.”

  “I realize you won’t voluntarily take me there now, but I’m certain you’ll be more agreeable later.”

  Ah, so he wanted me to take him somewhere. I had a pretty good idea of why.

  Grunts and clanging metal sounded behind me, but I kept my focus on Adonis. “Your spells don’t work on me. Why would I help you?”

  “Because I know how to stop the inevitable from happening.”

  My heart skipped a beat, but I played ignorant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t play dumb, Kewasa. You’re Abiel’s deliverer, but it’s obvious you care about him.”

  I couldn’t let him see my hope roaring to life. “What makes you think so?”

  A knowing grin spread across his face. “You know my name, human. You know what I am.”

  “And I suppose you want me to take you to where I went in exchange for this information?”

  His grin spread. “Maybe you aren’t so dumb after all.”

  “What about Okeus? He won’t like you making this side deal.”

  “He’ll never know.”

  I shot a glance to Abel, who was now in a fierce battle with the minotaur. Blood streamed down the side of his face. This was why he wasn’t reacting to my thoughts—he couldn’t spare the energy.

  I sucked in a breath.

  “Theos won’t kill him,” Adonis said. “Okeus would torture him for centuries. He’ll want the glory of bringing Abiel to his father.”

  “But Theos might capture him.”

  Adonis cast Abel a speculative look, then shook his head. “No. The son of Okeus is wily. He’ll prevail.” He turned back to me. “But we only have a short window to do this. Do you wish to save the son of Okeus or not?”

  “How do I know this isn’t a trick? How do I know you’ll fulfill your end of the bargain once I take you there?”

  “You don’t, but I suspect you want to save him enough to take the risk.”

  I was tempted . . . so tempted, but the dying sounds of the minotaur made my decision for me.

  Adonis lifted his shoulder into a slight shrug. “I see you need to give this some thought.” He took a step backward. “I’ll give you some time to consider it, but I’ll come to you soon, in your hour of need, and perhaps you’ll be more willing.”

  “And if I’m not?”

  His response was to disappear into a black mist and fade out of sight.

  Chapter Six

  Piper

  “I told you to stay behind me!” Abel roared from the dock above my head. The entire left side of his face was covered in blood as was his right arm. His shirt was drenched with it.

  “You’re hurt,” I said, sounding as panicked as I felt.

  “They aren’t mortal wounds,” he said in irritation. “Where is Adonis?”

  I repressed thoughts of the demon’s offer, not wanting to tell him quite yet. I knew he’d think Adonis’s offer was a trick, and he’d likely be right, but I wasn’t ready to rule it out quite yet. “He turned into smoke and left.”

  Rage filled his eyes. “He’ll run to Okeus.”

  “No,” I said. “He won’t want to admit he failed in capturing us. I suspect he’ll hide and figure out what to do next.” When I saw that didn’t appease him, I added, “He didn’t know where I took you. He asked me several times to tell him.”

  The tension in his face eased slightly. “I suspect you’re right and there’s nothing to be done about it, so now we’ll address your disobedience.”

  “Excuse me?” I said in disbelief. “My disobedience?”

  “Good to see you’re not blindly following him,” Collin Dailey said to my right.

  I spun to face him as he walked into the loading dock area with a drawn sword. Ellie and Jack followed him, and I could barely make out Rhys and David in the darkness beyond them.

  I ignored Collin and ran to Jack, throwing my arms around his neck. “Are you okay?”

  He hugged me back. “Other than my pride, I’m fine. I’m the one who should be asking you.”

  He stepped back, and Rhys nearly tackled me as she surged forward and wrapped her arms around me.

  “Piper” was all she said, but the way she said it conveyed so much feeling.

  I closed my eyes and buried my face into the nape of her neck, breathing in the scent of my own shampoo. “I’m so sorry, Rhys. Can you forgive me?”

  “None of this is your fault. There’s nothing to forgive. I’m so, so sorry I hurt you.”

  I squeezed her tight, holding on for several seconds, before I said in a broken voice, “I failed Hudson.”

  She pulled back and grabbed my upper arms, giving me a hard look. “No. You had no idea the demon would kill him.”

  “But I knew a demon was kidnapping people. I should have gotten him protection sooner. I should have insisted he stay home.”

  Her grip tightened until it hurt. “This is not your fault, Piper. I’m sorry I blamed you for Abby’s death, but I had to blame someone, and unfortunately, I wrongly chose you. I’m so sorry.”

  “This place you fled to—where did you go, exactly?” Collin asked from several feet away.

  I turned to face him, surprised to see he was addressing Abel, not me.

  Abel gave him a dark look and refused to answer.

  Collin turned to me. “Where did you go? Were you there all this time?”

  “Leave it,” Ellie warned.

  “I’m just curious about the specifics, that’s all,” he said.

  I shot Abel a glance, then turned to the curse keeper. “I took Abel away from this place, but the demons were waiting when we returned.”

  “Th
at doesn’t really answer my question, does it?”

  “Collin,” Ellie groaned. “Enough. Perhaps there’s a reason she chose not to answer.”

  “If we’re going to help her, then we have a right to know.”

  Ellie put her hands on her hips, but not from irritation—it looked like she needed help with her balance and could have been blown over with a feather. “You want to help her?”

  He turned to face her, his brow wrinkling in irritation. “You don’t?”

  “Of course I do. She’s my cousin and Okeus is after her. Either would compel me, but the two together make me doubly committed. The real question is why you want to help her.”

  “You think I’m that much of an asshole?” he asked, sounding displeased.

  “Your babble is pointless,” Abel said in a harsh tone. “We need to leave. Now.”

  Ellie turned her glare on him. “Forgive me if I don’t fall over myself to follow the orders of Okeus’s son.”

  “Enough,” I sighed, already weary of their argument. “Let’s go home.”

  “Piper’s right,” David said in a dignified voice, made all the more so by his accent. “We should leave. Okeus could send more demons to intercept us at any moment.”

  Abel frowned. “I’ll take Piper to my mountain home. It’s secure from demons.”

  “We’re sticking with Piper,” Ellie said in a no-nonsense tone. “I need to talk to her before you haul her to God knows where. We’ve secured her house. We’ll be safe from the demons there.”

  I stared at her in disbelief. “You secured my house from demons? How?”

  “I’ll teach you how to protect yourself.” She narrowed her eyes at Abel. “And much more.”

  While I knew Abel’s house was a fortress, I needed the comfort of my own home, at least for a few hours. I felt close to Hudson there. I also needed to check on Tommy, and I really, really needed to talk to Ellie.

  “We’ll go to my house,” I said to Abel.

  “The demons will look for you there first,” he said. “You need to hide.”

  “Hide?” I spat in disgust. “I’m not hiding.”

  “Piper,” Abel growled.

  “They’ll never know she’s there,” Ellie said. “Collin and I left our marks on the door. Our power will hide hers.”

  “You underestimate her power,” Abel said. “It’s growing by the hour.”

  I held Abel’s gaze. “Everyone’s tired. Okeus doesn’t know we’ve come back and killed his demons. We’ll be safe for a few hours.”

  He gave me a dark glare but didn’t argue, just resheathed his sword and gave me a nod that acknowledged we were equals.

  Everyone started to head out, and I took a moment to catch my breath as a sharp pain gripped my heart.

  Hudson.

  I couldn’t just walk away and leave his body. This place was abandoned. Who knew when he’d be found? What would his parents do? They’d turn to me for answers, and I wouldn’t be able to tell them a blessed thing.

  “I’ll arrange for someone to find him,” Abel said softly. “Besides, he’s not really there.”

  A new horror struck me. He’d been killed by a demon. Had his soul been trapped?

  Abel blocked my path as I spun around to go back inside. “I knew your cousin wished to kill the Great One for herself, but I slayed him instead to free your friend,” Abel said. “If he hasn’t moved on, I suspect his spirit is at your house.”

  Why hadn’t I considered that? “All the more reason to go home.” I dropped my gaze to his hand. “But you’re handing over that ring first. I’ll hold on to it for safekeeping.”

  I held out my left hand. He placed it on my palm, then stepped closer as he curled my fingers around it, looking deep into my eyes. “There might come a time when I need this ring, Waboose.”

  “If I think you need it, I’ll give it back,” I said, giving him a smug smile. “You can feel me, and I can feel you. That’s enough for now.”

  I started walking away from the building toward where we’d left Abel’s car, surprised to see it in the parking lot next to Ellie’s car, not several blocks away where we’d originally left it.

  “Rhys and I took Abel’s car,” Jack said as he opened the back door. “I thought the four of us would fit better. Plus Abel had weapons in the back…” He held the keys out to the demigod.

  Abel took them, wearing a scowl as he opened the driver’s door and got in.

  The four of us were silent for the first couple of moments of the short drive. Finally, Abel broke the silence and quizzed Jack and Rhys about the curse keepers’ behavior at my house.

  Both said David and the curse keepers had stayed in the living room, waiting for us to return. It was Jack who’d led the charge back to the warehouse, but Collin had readily followed.

  “What about the Cherokee immortals?” Abel asked. “Did they join you?”

  “I never saw them after we left the warehouse,” Jack said. “But one of the Nunnehi Little People came to the house—Tsagasi—and he told us you’d disappeared into a world.”

  “You can really create worlds?” Rhys asked me in awe.

  “Looks like it,” I said, still uncertain about my newest gift.

  The sun was rising when Abel pulled into my driveway, parking next to Ellie’s car. Everything had changed over the last few hours, yet my house looked remarkably the same. As I got out, I noticed the dark charcoal marks covering the door into my kitchen. “What the…”

  “Ellie claims they’re marks of protection,” Jack said softly as he fell into step beside me, his gaze on Abel. “She says no demon can cross the threshold.”

  I shot a glance over to Abel, who was studying them as well. “Can you go in?”

  “I’m not a demon,” he said in a low tone, his gaze still on the marks, then mumbled under his breath, “They’re Croatan.”

  The marks were Croatan?

  “That’s because they’re Collin’s,” Ellie said, standing next to the door. David stood beside her. “Ahone taught him how to draw the marks before he broke the curse. Collin and I can infuse our power into them. We can do it separately, but sometimes together if we’re especially nervous. They’ve held up until now. They even stop the gods.”

  “Abel has to come inside,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Can he enter or not?”

  Ellie shuffled her feet before meeting my gaze. “We’re not sure.”

  “Not sure isn’t good enough,” I said sternly. “If Abel can’t go in, we’ll go to his house in the mountains.”

  “Ellie,” Jack pleaded. “We need to stick together.” His tone lacked any heat, but I could hear the recrimination hidden in it. How could I choose Abel over the rest of them?

  “You can invite him in,” David said, “or at least we think it works that way. Ellie received nightly visits from gods and demons who could never enter. But Okeus asked for entrance once. Which leads us to believe you can issue an invitation.”

  I took a breath to calm down, surprised by my deep need to protect Abel. Was this normal or was it supernatural? “Will it hurt him if he tries to go in?”

  “No,” David said. “At least I don’t think so. It’s more likely he’ll be incapable of going through. But none of the demons ever tried to force their way in, and I’m certain they would have if it were possible.”

  I glanced back at Abel. “Do you want them to remove the marks?”

  “The marks stay,” Abel stated solemnly, then turned to me. “We must keep you safe at all costs.”

  I shook my head. “But you—”

  His mouth tipped up into a lopsided grin. “Await your invitation.”

  I followed Ellie through the door, then turned back to face Abel.

  He stepped up to the entrance and stopped, his expression ruminative. “The markings put up some type of impenetrable supernatural wall.”

  I held out my hand to him. The curse keepers and demons seemed keen on titles, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to inc
lude his. “Abel, son of Okeus, enter.”

  He took my hand and walked over the threshold.

  “Did you feel anything?” I asked once he was safely inside.

  “An electrical charge across my skin,” he said, glancing down at his arms. Sure enough, his hair stood on end.

  “Can you teach me to use the marks?” I asked, whirling on Ellie.

  “That’s a good question,” she said as David ushered Jack and Rhys inside, then followed them in. “I’m not sure if they would work for you. Only Collin and I have successfully used them.” She gave me an ornery grin. “But then, you’re not like most people.”

  “What do the symbols mean?” Jack asked as he leaned back against the counter. Rhys stood next to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

  David spoke up. “The symbols on the outside ask the wind and moon and earth to protect the occupants. Ellie and Collin use their own symbols for daughter of the sea and son of the land on the inside to seal the protection. While you’re a demon hunter, we’re not sure you have the same power they do.”

  “She’s also a witness to creation like I am,” Ellie said. “And she bears the curse keeper mark on her left hand—the circle in a square, the crossing of the earthly and spiritual worlds. I’m sure she has plenty of power of her own.” She turned to me. “Have you seen the creation yet?”

  I resisted the urge to shoot a glance to Abel. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone that we’d slept together, and I wasn’t sure how it was typically seen. However, I needed to tell them about Okeus’s plans. Just as I started to speak, Collin walked inside.

  “That sounds like a big fat no,” he said, closing the door behind him. “The Nunnehi are outside keeping guard.”

  Ellie’s face looked drawn. “Does it count toward one of the seven times we’re permitted to call upon them?”